Pan-Islamism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pan-Islam (اتّحاد الاسلام) is a religious movement calling for the Muslims of the world to unite. It is based on the assumption that Muslims everywhere share common interests in religious beliefs (the brotherhood of Muslims) and in a legacy of occupation by imperialist rulers. It contemplates a global community of Muslims united in resistance against European colonialism.
Pan-Islamism is related to and a competitor with Pan-Arabism. But where Pan-Arabism is concerned primarily with the unity and independence of Arabic people (often without regard to religious identity), Pan-Islamism is concerned with unity and independence of countries and regions that are predominantly Muslim. These include non-Arab countries such as Iran and Indonesia.
The movement has an historical basis in the early years of Islam, when the Prophet Muhammad first united the Arab Peninsula under Islam and, shortly thereafter, Umar similarly united North Africa and most of the Middle East. During modern colonial occupation of Muslim countries, Pan-Islamism, was introduced by the founder of Islamic modernism, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. His particular version of the movement had very socially progressive reforms for the time, but these have not always been preserved.
Between World War I and World War II, the Mufti of Jerusalem sought Nazi support in uniting Islam under a new Caliphate in which he would have been Caliph. His efforts were focused on driving out the British and the French, as well as destroying the Jews, particularly those congregating in Palestine. Although he failed in his effort, his concepts remain part of the strategy found in most Pan-Islamism or Pan-Arabism regarding Palestine today.
As colonialist powers (particularly the United Kingdom and France) relenquished control of various territories in the 20th Century, Arab and Muslim nationalists were emboldened. This was further enhanced as oil, a resource found in many Muslim countries, became a key ingredient for industrial production throughout the world. Then, when the European powers withdrew, they divided the Middle East into nation-states and (typically) left governments headed by kings. These kings, often schooled in European universities, typically sought to bring European styles of modernization and government to their new countries, including secularism and social reforms, which brought them into direct confrontation with fundamentalist sects such as Wahabism.
With the establishment of a Jewish Homeland by the Balfour Declaration, the subsequent establishment of Israel as a country by the United Nations, and the crushing and surprising defeat in the 1948 and 1967 wars with Israel, Arab religious leaders taught that a return to fundamental Islamic precepts, including the universal brotherhood and political unity of all Muslims (Ummah) under Sharia, was necessary to obtain the favor of God. These sentiments, along with interventions by Western and Soviet powers during the Cold War, resulted in political and economic crises and revolutions in Muslim countries during the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. This was fertile ground for many political Pan-Islamist movements that have continued into the 21st Century.
An early example, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, challenged the secular government of the Wafd Party and, later, Nasser's government. In Egypt and elsewhere, Pan-Islamists found followers mainly from low and middle-class civilians who were tired of corruption and economic distress under their government. However, until the late 1970's, nearly all attempts of Pan-Islamism to take control of country governments were doomed to failure. Then, Iran had a successful Islamic Revolution against the Emperor Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and Islamic fundamentalists loyal to the Deobandi school of law in Pakistan (with the secret aid of the American CIA) drove the Soviet Union from Afghanistan.
This led to a growing confidence in fundamentalist movements and a renewed sense of possible Pan-Islamism. In some cases, this new global Pan-Islamism can be seen as a different Pan-Islamism that does not try to revolt in the countries itself but look for a whole new global order. Worldwide Islamic terrorist organizations such as Al Qada are an example of this perspective.
Pan-Islam faces a variety of challenges. In many cases, nationalism is a stronger influence than the cross-borders religious unity that reformers such as Afghani called for. In other cases, serious disputes between Shia and Sunni Islamic factions prevent long-term unity. Pan-Arabism, the unity of Arabs, or Arabic-speaking people, is a rival (and sometimes conflated) concept that favors a more secular perspective. The world generally prefers to see political disunity between Muslim countries that control substantial wealth in the form of oil. Finally, the actions of terrorist Pan-Islamic organizations has resulted in aggressive armed and economic warfare against these entities and governments that support them.
